Zhao Xiaohai said this, turned his head to look at Li Qiang, who was following behind him, holding two password boxes in his hands, and then continued, "To be honest, although I have been very grateful for your care in the past few months, due to my busy business, I have never had the opportunity to sit down with you formally. As a younger brother, I am still young, and although I have spent more time with you, it is inevitable that I will not be able to greet you well. So today, I took the opportunity to welcome Brother Yakov and invite everyone together, and I also want to express my gratitude to you all."

"Zhao, you're so polite!" The officials present were so intimidated by Yakov's gloomy face that they dared not speak. Seeing that the situation was about to become cold, Zyuganov had to stand up and say, "To be honest, we have to thank you very much. If it weren't for your generosity, how could we be gathered here?"

Zyuganov then stepped in to smooth things over, saying, "Let's not talk about those polite words. Today we are only talking about friendship, nothing else, haha, nothing else."

“Wait!”

Just as Zyuganov finished speaking, Yakov, who had been silent the entire time, finally spoke. His gloomy gaze swept across the faces of several officials, and then he said in a cold tone, "For Yakov, the general has been an acquaintance for a long time. As for Brother Xiaohai, I have nothing to say. We are only talking about friendship, so there is no doubt. As for the other comrades, there is no friendship to talk about. We must finish the business first."

Yakov's cold tone immediately made the officials present nervous. Even Zyuganov's expression was not very pleasant. If Zhao Xiaohai hadn't secretly helped him, he would have turned against Yakov on the spot. In the general's view, Yakov and his father were exactly the same kind of people. They had no other skills except fighting for power and showing off their authority. Compared with General Semyon back then, this father and son pair had completely disgraced the generals.

"Brother Xiaohai," Yakov said, calming the whole situation. Satisfied, he turned around and said to Zhao Xiaohai, who was following closely beside him, "Which hall did you arrange? Is it convenient for you to talk?"

"October Hall," Zhao Xiaohai gave the anxious officials an apologetic smile, and then replied, "Is it inconvenient to discuss the specifics? You should know better than me, brother."

This is the truth. If Zhao Xiaohai had not used the name of Yakov this time, a businessman like him would have no chance to hold a cocktail party at the Xishino Holiday Hotel.

"October Hall, that's enough," Yakov waved to his attendant, signaling him to come over. "Go, clear out October Hall. We have important matters to discuss, and no one is allowed to disturb us."

"Yes, Comrade Yakov!" The attendant stepped forward and responded, then rushed into the main building of the hotel with a few people.

"Come on, everyone. Let's talk inside if we have anything to say." Looking at his men rushing into the building, Yakov said casually, and then pulled Zhao Xiaohai into the front door of the main building.

As a privileged hotel for high-ranking Soviet officials to recuperate and take vacations, the Xishino Holiday Hotel is by no means comparable to the Friendship Hotel in terms of complete facilities and luxurious decoration. Not to mention other things, the marble floors in the corridors and the magnificent golden carved ceiling are simply not seen in any other hotel in the entire Khabarovsk region.

Led by Yakov, a group of people entered the spacious and magnificent October Hall. Everything in the hall had been arranged long ago. Although there were not many people attending the banquet, there were still four long tables in the hall, which were filled with sumptuous dishes, fruits and wines.

"Everyone, please take a seat." Yakov chose a smaller table with less clutter on it and sat down at the main seat without any hesitation. He waved his hand casually and said to everyone, "Brother Xiaohai, come sit here with me. We'll have a drink together later."

According to Zhao Xiaohai's arrangement, the seat next to Yakov was reserved for General Zyuganov, and as the host, he should naturally take the last seat. However, General Zyuganov clearly had a problem with Yakov, and other officials seemed reluctant to sit with the Security Council. So, after a brief moment of deliberation, Zhao Xiaohai didn't refuse and invited Li Qiang to sit next to Yakov.

"Brother Xiaohai, as I said just now, let's get down to business first." After everyone was seated, Yakov tapped the table with his hand and said in a tone devoid of emotion, "Bring out the gifts you prepared for us all now. Once we've distributed them, we can get down to business."

Zhao Xiaohai smiled and then nodded to his younger brother sitting opposite him.

After receiving the signal from his elder brother, Li Qiang stood up, put the two suitcases beside the seat on the table, opened the lids, and found that they were full of thick file folders, and on the cover of each file folder, there was a different name written.

"Everyone, you've seen this," Yakov said, reaching out and pulling a suitcase in front of him. He then picked out a bag with his name on it and gave it a slight push. The suitcase slid across the smooth tabletop and landed directly in the center. "These two boxes are filled with gifts that Brother Xiaohai prepared for everyone. One bag for each person, everyone gets a share, including me, of course. I can also clearly tell you that the things in these bags, besides the work we'll be arranging for the next step, are a reward for our hard work. Haha, it's not a large sum, just 100,000 yuan each. No one here will get a penny more or less. Today, regardless of rank or authority, we're treating everyone equally."

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